In a New Light
by Hi10000000
Summary: A prophecy, a Clan in danger, an unlikely hero. We've all heard it before. So here it is again, but in parody form! And do you ever wonder how the cats feel when tortured in Truth-or-Dare shows? On hiatus because I am lazy.
1. Prolouge

**A/N: IMPORTANT NOTICE: THIS IS A PARODY. I REPEAT, PARODY!**

**You will read this with acronyms in your head. Either LOL or WTF.**

**Prolouge: A warning**

It was a dark and stormy night.

The skies were black and boiling with dark masses of clouds. Rain fell- no, _ripped _through the cold air, each forceful as a bullet. (Of course, cats don't know what a bullet is, but I do.) Wind howled through the skies, screaming, screaming. The storm raged and seemed to shake the forest to its roots, but if one knew what was going to happen soon, the storm's power would pale in comparison. But let's not think about what is to come…. Anyway, darkness swept across the lands, allies with the stinging rain and roaring storm, twin demons reigning over the forest.

As usual.

Of course, it would be a dark and stormy night, especially in the beginning of a chapter titled "A warning". Of course. It is always a dramatic beginning, a storm raging through the lands as a significant event happens. Quite like how an action movie is punctured by dramatic sound effects, such as thunderclaps, a sudden explosion of dark music, and the ever-famous _dun dun duuuun! _(Cats don't know what those are either, but whatever.) Always. Always. It has grown so common that it, the mighty storm, actually seems kind of _boring_ to read about now. Amazing, really! The mighty storm, such a great force of nature, beginning to grow _boring_! Alas, such is the effect of overuse and clichés.

But I digress.

Back to the storm. Or more accurately, what was trying to hide from the storm. Yes, another cliché. As a brilliant lightning flash lit up the black sky and a terrible thunderclap sounded, a lone silhouette is seen, desperately searching for a place to hide from the raging storm. A pregnant she-cat.

And then she is going to find a place to give birth and will do it successfully but will die in the process but still give birth to a perfectly healthy kit. And that kit is going to survive the harshness of the forest on wit alone, even if he or she is no more than a newborn. And then the kit will join a Clan and be realized to be in a prophecy, and then through trial and hardship he or she will defeat the bad guys and become a hero and all will sing praise. Right?

Nope.

True, the storm raged above, but already its power was diminishing, and already bits of sunlight are poking through the clouds tentively. The storm was ending. And soon, when a – sort of- significant event was actually going to happen, there would be no storm at all. No dramatic background to set off the story in a _bang! _Well, that sucks for the author, yours truly, but the she-cat (yes, there is a she-cat) rejoiced. But no, the she-cat was not pregnant as said before (I said "just kidding", didn't I?). Instead, the storm parts to see two cats walking side by side: a dark gray she-cat and a black kit. Yes, the she-cat's kit was already born. And it is not unhealthy, nor is it crippled, nor does it have a personality issue. In fact, the kit is perfectly healthy, and its name is Night. And it is not an it, but a he.

And no, Night does not have a sob story.

No, Night does not have magic powers either.

Night is a normal cat _–gasp!- _just a normal cat walking through the now-sunlit forest with his mother, Shade. No sob story, no weird abilities, just a normal cat. But he may find that his destiny is not as normal as it seems…..

Of course there is going to be an epic cliffhanger. Of course.

**-Line break-**

Aspenstar of SkyClan sat high in a tree, thinking. Thinking. Of Clan issues, of course. Of course there is going to be an issue in the Clan, and then there is going to be a prophecy that will patch everything up. As usual, another cliché.

But you will find that it is different here. Because there is no Clan issue. SkyClan is perfectly well. The prey is abundant, and so are the kits (You know, the future?). The forest is in all the glory of Greenleaf, and the leaves are lush and green, as the season name suggests.

And of course, SkyClan is at peace. After all, it has no enemies, no other Clan to threaten it. So the Clan prospers and its ranks swell, and the few deaths that occur are calm. The storm was only a setback, a momentary pause in SkyClan's growth, and now the camp is full of willing cats who drag away all the debris littering their camp and rebuilding the dens that were broken. Normally, they would try to hang back and get someone else to do it, but now they are so glad that the camp didn't flood that they are temporarily made into willing volunteers.

But of course Aspenstar is thinking. No, worrying.

Of course.

Aspenstar was worried. She had been before, but then it had been just a nagging doubt, something she easily pushed away. But after the storm struck, her worry had swelled. Just like SkyClan's prosperity swelled, but in a bad way.

Actually, the storm had nothing to do with it. It had just provided the perfect metaphor.

Aspenstar had noticed something. It was so trivial that most would have missed it. Most. But Aspenstar is Aspenstar, and Aspenstar is really just a worrywart who overthinks everything. Really.

Don't tell her I said that.

Anyway. Aspenstar had noticed that before the storm, there was a calm. Yes, a calm. Strange, really, how before the storm strikes, before the storm's rage breaks loose and all is chaos there is a calm. So contradictory. Nature can be a hypocrite, I guess.

But then the calm had left, and all was chaos.

Now, Aspenstar faced a peaceful era. A calm. SkyClan was growing, and all was well, it seemed.

But is this no more than the calm before the storm? Just a pause before all hell breaks loose?

Aspenstar shook her head, denying. _No way. No way. It's just little old me overthinking things again. Honestly._

Now, I know that in several stories the characters seem so stupid. The answer is dangling right in front of them, yet they ignore it. They all think that there is no big deal, no danger looming before them. So ignorant, you say. So stupid. But we must forgive them, for they know not of this story. They know not of the fact that they are actually just characters in a story, made for our entertainment. Of course they don't. They think they are just normal cats leading a normal life (Although I wouldn't call talking cats living in a sophisticated Clan normal). How can we blame them? For all we know, we could be in a story, too, about to plunge into war and disaster.

But I digress.

_Yup,_ Aspenstar thought. _Just silly old me, thinking all is disaster again._

_But, _a little voice in her head said,_ what if you are right? What if this is actually just the calm before the storm? You never know. Better safe than sorry, after all._

_Go away! _Aspenstar thought-yelled. _Remember what happened last time I listened to you?_

_An image of terrified cats hiding in a cave, shivering, hiding from a horde of foxes. Hiding from a horde of foxes that didn't exist. _Aspenstar's face still burned from the lingering humiliation, for it had been her that triggered the false alarm.

_"Better safe than sorry", _Aspenstar snapped. _That's what you said that time, too._

_But—_

"Go away!" Aspenstar yelled out loud, then groaned in embarrassment as a nearby flock of birds took flight in alarm._ Now look what you made me do. It just had to be my favorite prey, too._

But the little voice was gone.

_Well, that's that. _Aspenstar thought, strangely triumphant. She found herself doing a strange little dance of victory, which was not a good idea, since she was sitting in a tree. In case you forgot. Aspenstar sure did.

CRASH!

Aspenstar fell out of the tree, causing another flock of birds to fly away, too.

"Well, oops." She muttered, feeling as if her fur was on fire. She tried desperately not to remember the time she had actually lost a life by falling out of a tree. All the StarClan cats had been laughing, too. How embarrassing.

"Well, at least no one saw that."

"Think again."

Aspenstar whirled around, bristling. But it was no enemy, just the medicine cat, Graytail. AKA her brother. _How did I not notice him? Hmm._

Graytail continued. "You're a cat, right?"

"What in StarClan's name? Of course!"

"Aren't cats always supposed to land on their feet?"

"I-um, I…." she blustered. "I'm assuming that you have something to tell me. Maybe a prophecy?" Desperate to change the subject. Of course.

Graytail started. How did she know?

"Looks like I was right on the mark, then. Spit it out."

But where to start? The dream had been weird, so weird. _Just start with what you know._

"Ummm….." Graytail tried to make his voice sound deep and mysterious, but failed miserably. "The night…will come?" Aspenstar stared for a moment, and Graytail wondered if his "deep and mysterious" voice had worked.

But nooo. Far from it.

"You don't say?" Aspenstar snorted. Inwardly she grinned. _Yes! Finally a triumph over that snarky Graytail!_

"Well….." Graytail stammered. "It was actually really weird, you see, and that was the only part I recognized, sooooo….."

"Spit it out." Aspenstar repeated.

"Well, there was the sky. It was all sunshiney and bright, and all was well. But then this, this….." Graytail found himself hesitating. Surely Aspenstar would think that he was insane. Surely.

"Go on." Was it just him, but did Aspenstar actually sound interested?

"Well, there were, um, these cats filling out the sky and blocking it."

"Seems legit." Aspenstar was confused. This was definitely not what she thought was "really weird" and "hard to understand".

"Just one thing." Graytail hesitated. "They were…um…._rainbow-colored_."

"Rainbow…. cats."

"But then night came and all the weird cats vanished and someone said: 'They will come, but night will, too, and they will flee.' So, yeah…" Aspenstar started making a strange noise.

Graytail realized she was laughing.

"Honestly, Graytail!" Aspenstar choked between fits of laughter. "The catnip's for cats with Greencough, not you!"

"What?!" Graytail spluttered. "I'm not—that's—it was a prophecy-!"

"Prophecy, my butt! If it is, the only thing it's saying is that you need to stop getting high on catnip!"

"I am not getting high on catnip, Aspenstar!"

Aspenstar didn't look convinced.

**A/N: yes, I know its rambley and strange, and the prophecy's really obvious, and Aspenstar should be called Failstar. But it's a parody, so bear with me, kk?**

**So which was it? LOL or WTF?**


	2. Night: A Strange Introduction

**Chapter one: Night.**

**A/N: This chapter is sad. Just sad. FAIL…..**

The gray cat was no more than a shade.

It watched its prey with calculating eyes, hiding among the shadows. It _was_ no more than a shadow, at least to its prey. Its lithe muscles were covered in dark grey fur, its body made for movement. Any other time, it would be high in the trees, leaping from branch to branch, or running swiftly through the forest. But in this moment, it was completely still, bunched up in the shadows, coiled and tensed, ready to spring. Ready to spring onto its unwary prey, a mouse to be exact.

The mouse snuffled along the forest floor, looking for food (unknowing that _it_ would soon be food). Liquid black eyes searched the forest floor for a tasty nut or two, but to no avail. No food again. Alas, all those tasty nuts had been taken by greedy squirrels! Dang squirrels. If only the mouse could give them a piece of its mind! But unfortunately for the mouse, those squirrels were darn _fast_, and always got to new feeding areas—and left, too- before the mouse even heard of it. And when it finally got there, there would always be nothing left. Dang squirrels.

Innocent little mouse, so unknowing. Thinking such irrelevant thoughts instead of being sensible and alert. The cat felt its mouth curve into a smile.

The mouse uncovered something in the fallen leaves, and found it to be a nut! Finally! It eagerly picked up it prize, only to find that it was half an empty shell, chewed through by sharp squirrel teeth. Tricked again! The mouse's whiskers twitched in what seemed to be annoyance, but one can never tell. It is just a mouse, after all. It sulked the forest loam, and unwittingly slid closer to the cats waiting body. Closer to danger. Closer to death.

And then the cat lunged.

Yes, I know, another dramatic beginning. Another typical beginning, a cat's hunting refined by a pen that just seems to be overdoing it. Yup. Another _bang!_ (that's kind of wannabe) for the start of a new chapter. Yes, again. As if the storm in the Prolouge wasn't enough.

But fear not, Shade's glory won't live long. (You know, Shade, the she-cat mentioned in the Prouloge? Her.)

In fact, well, just watch.

Suddenly-

"Mommy! Mommy! MOMMY!" A little black cat burst out of the bushes, holding a branch with berries on it. "Mommy, look what I found!"

The cat, Shade, started. Then groaned. You shall soon see why.

"MOMMY MOMMY! LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY BERRIES, CAN I KEEP IT? ITS SO PRETTY! MAYBE WE CAN EAT IT BUT THEN I WON'T BE ABLE TOO KEEP IT AND ITS SO PRETTY AND TOO PRETTY TO EAT AND ITS JUST SO COOL SO CAN I KEEP IT? I CAN USE IT AS DECORATION FOR OUR DEN SINCE OUR DEN IS TOO BORING RIGHT NOW AND ITS ALL GRAY AND BROWN AND THERE ARE NO BRIGHT COLORS AND THE MOSS IS TOO BROWN TO BE MOSS AND ITS HARD AND UNCOMFORTABLE, TOO. I WANT SOME NEW MOSS, TOO, AND THEN CAN WE GO PLAY? CAN WE? MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY-!"

The rest is irrelevant. What is important, however, is that this little cat's mouth moves at a hundred miles per hour.

Which means that he was making a lot of noise. A LOT OF NOISE.

"MOMMY MOMMY I REMEMBER ONCE I SAW A RAINBOW AND IT WAS SO SHINY AND PRETTY AND THE TOP WAS ALL RED JUST LIKE THESE BERRIES AND IT WAS SO PRETTY AND I WANTED IT BUT I COULDN'T REACH IT BUT NOW I HAVE THE RED AND CAN MAKE A RAINBOW!"

Now, the mouse Shade was hunting was not exactly the brightest crayon in the box (Cats actually don't know what crayons are, but I do), but it wasn't brain-dead. So of course its going to abandon its desperate quest for nuts –gasp!- and run away. Of course.

_You may have won this time, little nuts, but next time I, Mouse, shall get you!_ There was definitely a strange glint in the mouse's black eyes as it ran away. Probably plotting dark revenge against those evil squirrels, or the nuts that just refused to appear.

Actually, it was probably just scared and creeped out by the strange black _thing_ that _did not know how to shut up._

"SEE MOMMY THE RAINBOW WAS A SIGN AND IT SAD THAT I MUST GATHER ALL THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW AND UNITE THEM, IT'LL BE A QUEST AND-!"

But I digress, again. Third time, in fact.

The mouse had ran. And the cat, Shade, was empty-pawed once more. Shade felt annoyance that could be considered similar to the mouse's frustration at those darn squirrels. Darn squirrels. No, darn Night.

Shade, the great huntresses' son, Night-who-did-not-know-how-to-shut-up.

In fact, he was still talking.

"MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY THE MOUSEY RAN AWAY DID YOU SEE? IT JUST RAN AWAY WITHOUT EVEN SAYING HI AND THAT'S SO MEAN! MOUSEY IS RUDE FOR NOT SAYING HI AND NOT LETTING YOU CATCH IT MOMMY! THE MOUSEY IS A MEANY! MAYBE THE BUNNIES ARE NICER AND WILL SAY HI AND PLAY WITH US AND BESIDES THEY'RE SO FLUFFY TOO CUTE TO EAT! WE SHOULD ALL BE FRIENDS AND NOT EAT EACH OTHER AND INSTEAD EAT BERRIES AND KEEP THE COLORFUL ONES LIKE THIS ONE! SEE MOMMY SEE ITS ALL RED AND BRIGHTEY AND ITS SO PRETTY AND I JUST WANT TO KEEP IT AND ATTRACT FRIENDS WITH IT! EVERYONE WILL COME TO IT AND SEE THAT ITS SUPER BRIGHT AND PRETTY AND THEN I'LL EAT T AND BECOME ALL COLORFUL AND EVERYONE WILL WANT TO BE MY FRIEND AND I'LL NEVER BE LONLEY AGAIN AND WE'LL ALL PLAY IN THE MEADOW YOU FOUND AND BE FRIENDS! MOMMY MOMMY JUST LET ME KEEP THE BERRIES AND—"

Night was interrupted by a loud sigh.

Gasp! So it is possible to interrupt the uninterruptible!

Shade felt her annoyance growing. Not only did Night scare away the first prey she had seen in this dang forest for weeks, but he didn't even know it. Great. Just great.

But, as usual.

Because Shade was almost one hundred percent sure her son was an idiot. A total idiot.

Before, she had tried to teach him how to fight and hunt. After all, Shade did spend some of her life in Twolegplace and earned herself a reputation to live up too. _No son of hers was gong to be a pussy!_ But it didn't work. After all, Night was no tough guy (Quite the opposite, really). But Shade suspected, no, _knew_ that Night was happy not knowing, and would much rather chase dandelion seeds than actually learn to survive (Which struck Shade as extremely weird, because who would rather be a total idiot than someone who is actually strong?). So the lessons failed, and Night remained defenseless. And an epic fail, in Shade's eyes.

_"Its time you learned to fight." Shade and Night stood in a clearing. _

_Shade looked at Night, eyes dead serious. Night, however, was chasing a dandelion seed._

_Shade stared and waited until Night's focus came back. Which was a long time later._

_A really long time later._

_Finally, Night looked up. _

_"As I was saying," Shade said, trying hard to keep the irritation out of her voice. "It's time you learn to fight." She looked at Night seriously, expecting him to be paying attention. _

_But no. Once again, Night was chasing that darn dandelion seed. _

_Shade felt her patience wear thin. And before she could stop herself, Shade lunged and in one movement, snatched the dandelion seed out of Night's paws and pinned it to the ground, all before Night could even react. Night blinked, stunned, and then started to protest._

_Shade interrupted him before he could start whining. "Okay, okay, you can have another one, just as long as you pay attention!"_

_Night frowned, but held his tongue. And tried to listen. No really, he tried! But the blades of grass tickling his paws were just so interesting…._

_"This world is full of cats," Shade began. "And many of them are nasty. Really nasty. And they will try to hurt you." Shade paused. Night quickly tried to look like he was interested._

_Satisfied, Shade continued. "So it is essential that you learn to defend yourself." Once again, she checked to see if Night was paying attention._

_This time, Night could not move fast enough, and Shade caught him playing with a blade of grass._

_Shade fought the urge to whack him on the head and instead settled for yelling: "NIGHT!"_

_Night snapped to attention like a deer caught in headlights. But perhaps a bit to quickly, for he jerked backwards and ended up toppling over. Shade groaned._

_"Pay attention!" She snapped for what felt like the millionth time. "You want to learn to fight, or do you want to remain the lazy _kittypet _that you are now?"_

_This caught Night's attention. But not in the way you would expect._

_"Wait, you want me to fight?"_

_"Of course!" Shade yowled. "Weren't you listening?" Oh, wait. Don't answer that. Of course you weren't listening._

_"But-but-" Night protested._

_"But WHAT?" If cats had hands, Shade would be facepalming right now. Better yet, banging her head against a tree, which didn't even require hands!_

_"But I don't want to fight!" Night burst out. "I just don't want to hurt people! I just want to be friends with everyone! Can't we all be friends? It's much nicer, you know. We could all be happy and laugh together and no one hurts anyone and all is happy! It's nicer to be friends and everyone is happy and all is nice and we all smile! And everyone would be friends, even the fluffy bunnies and little mice because they're super cute! And-"_

_Shade interrupted. "But at least learn to hunt so you can _live!_"_

_"But then I'll have to kill innocent little bunnies and mice and I'll be sad because they're so cute but I killed them and they're never coming back! They're just so fuzzy and little and I just can't hurt them! And they are just so cute and I can't kill them because they're too cute to kill! And I just want to be friends with the all and paly in the meadow you found and have fun and laugh and cuddle little bunnies and mice-!"_

_Shade finally snapped and started banging her head against a tree._

And now, although he had scared away the _last_ mouse, he still yammered on as if nothing had happened and the sky was still filled with rainbows and magical pink unicorns. Shade opened her mouth to snap at Night for messing things up _again,_ but wait-

_What? _

Shade blinked. _Rainbows and magical pink unicorns? The hell did I just think?_

Night stared, then suddenly announced: "Rainbows and magical pink unicorns!"

"I said that aloud, did I?"

"YEP! AND MOMMY MOMMY NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT I REMEMBERED THE RAINBOWS! I SUPPOSED TO GO ON A QUEST AND FIND ALL THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW AND YAAAAY!"

Shade moaned. Not the rainbow thing.

Night had found some catnip when he was a kit. And before she could stop him, he had eaten it all. All of it. And so, for the next few hours, Night bounced off the walls, well, trees. And screamed about strange things that Shade had never heard of, such as "Nyan Cat" and "Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing On Rainbows" and something about "lame parodies", whatever that was.

"AND WAFFLES!" Night suddenly yelled.

Oh, yeah. Lets not forget those "waffles" that Night wouldn't shut up about for the next few days, even though the catnip was already out of his system.

But speaking of catnip—

"Night, is that _catnip_ I smell on your breath?!"

It would definitely explain Night's refusal to speak in anything but Caps.

**A/N: This was only a chapter meant to introduce some characters. More parody-like than usual. And yes, I know that Shade kind of forgot about the mouse thing. She will remember in the next chapter.**


	3. Orange Fire

**A/N: Review replies:**

**Lilysplash: Thank you! Have a cookie!**

**Mary Sue: GOOD.**

**Honeycloud of RiverClan: Nyan cat, or Nyan troll? And yes, Shade is going through hell. This shall be included in the story.**

**Shade has a major flaw. Can you find it?**

Chapter 2: Night: Orange Fire

Night wasn't high on catnip anymore.

Thank God.

Actually, Night was glad. When high on catnip, he tended to do some very …_strange_….. things, and it was always awkward afterwards (NO DUH). Especially when he did not remember what he had done. And had to ask Shade, and watch her groan.

But he couldn't help it. Of course, it was his fault for eating the catnip in the first place, but it smelled so darn _good_. And Night had no resistance for sweet things whatsoever.

And so, stupid things always happened.

The thing is, every time he was high on catnip or anything else, he always seemed to lose contact with his body. One moment he would be chewing on the really tasty catnip, and the next blackness would creep into his vision. He always found himself floating in some darkness he assumed was his mind. But he didn't know that his mind was so large, for all around him all he could see was darkness, with no end whatsoever. All was dark…..

Okay, too epic. Don't overdo it, _please_. Its just dear little Night getting high on catnip for one too many times. But that's not what's important.

And then a scene would play in front of him.

Not that important, you say. It is, after all, the effect of catnip.

But it was always the same thing, really. At first, Night had thought that it was just a distant memory, but a distant memory didn't wind its way into your mind a million times over. A distant memory didn't appear in every blank space you saw, whether it be the shades of dreaming or the blankness of the mind when doing nothing. A distant memory stayed distant, but this scene just refused to go.

Of course, you're thinking that the scene, whatever it might be, has to be a sign. Of course. A _prophecy_ of some upcoming event, make that major event. I mean, it's reappeared so many times, so of course it has to be important. And I would give you that, except for one thing:

The scene was actually just a rainbow. A _really_ sparkly one.

Yeah, it's probably just the catnip.

But Night felt differently. He just knew it. To him, the rainbow was not a rainbow, but a treasure. After all, it was really pretty (at least, in Night's point of view). He felt that he must see it, over and over. Now, we would call this OCD, short for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And I guess you could call it that, if it was only the… sparkliness of the rainbow that Night obsessed with. But it was not that way. It was just a hunch, really unstable, too, but Night just …_knew_ that there was something significant about it.

Ah yes, now it's really obvious, isn't it?

And even though Night was not the sharpest knife in the drawer (cats have never even heard of those, but nevermind) and instead quite the opposite, he could still realize that something was going on. And to him, there was only one solution: see the rainbow again. And again. And again.

And to do that? Get high on catnip.

Explains a lot, doesn't it?

But, as said earlier, every time Night tried, he lost control of his body. And that was simply too embarrassing, even for Night. Last time, Shade had told him that he had started rolling on the floor and making weird noises, the most distinguishable sounding like "Nyanyanyanyanyanya" and "Nyan cat invasion!" Then he had grabbed a clod of dirt, Shade said, and danced around singing: "I got a jar of dirt! I got a jar of dirt! I got a jar of dirt! And guess what's inside it~!" She had also said something about "waffles" and "potato" and "I Can Has Cheezburger?" but it was hard to tell, for Shade had been banging her head against a tree.

So Night decided to find a better way to see the rainbow. He could see it any time he zoned out all other things (including a Shade who is very pissed off because Night is _not paying attention again_) and focused on the rainbow. It usually worked.

The key word is _usually._

Other times, Night just had a total BRAIN FART and crashed into a tree.

Awkward. And painful. Mostly painful.

But usually it worked. But the more Night observed, the more he could see nothing wrong with the rainbow. No prophecies, no faces of cats long forgotten, no omens of doom (don't we just get so tired of them?). It was, after all, just a rainbow. It could appear in the sky with all its glory and no one would yell: "LOOK!"

So Night came to a conclusion:

"The rainbow is a clue! I must go on a rainbow quest!"

Shade stopped and stared. "Excuse me?"

_Ah, whoops. Did I say that out loud?_

Yes, yes, you did.

So of course Night has to say it again. "Rainbow quest!"

Shade stared for a minute longer, wondering if the catnip was still in Night's system. It wasn't. It was just Night being Night.

Sigh.

"What makes you think that?" Shade said carefully. She had to convince him that it was a harebrained idea before he decided to chase it into the nonexistent sunset (in other words, wander off again).

"The rainbow! It always appears in my head!"

Night, you shouldn't say it that way. People might think—

"Night, I think there may be something wrong with your brain."

"What's a brain?"

Again, if Shade had a hand, she would be facepalming. Instead, she changed the subject to a more urgent thing.

"Night, are you still holding those red berries? They're poisonous."

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline—**

The she-cat darted through the forest, alert and wary. A twig snapped, and she jumped, bristling as if she was facing a strong enemy. But it was just a mouse.

She stared longingly at the mouse, but eventually turned away. This was dangerous territory. She could not stop here. Hostility seemed to drench every bit of the unfamiliar forest, down to the very leaves and twigs that rustled ominously. Hostility ran through her, too, a sharp electric pulse jolting through her body, keeping her alert and making every hair on her body stand on end.

Something deep inside her told her that she had to get out. A gut instinct, perhaps. It was all she knew. Her surroundings, the pounding of her heart, so alone, and this deep _knowing_ that she must get out.

_Enemy territory. _She thought. If only she could remember who the enemy was.

If only she could remember what anything was.

If only.

She remembered everything from a week ago, but before that was nothing more than a cloud of wavering shadows. A void, for all she knew. It seemed as if her mind had been submerged in watery darkness, darkness of oblivion, and had just been pulled out into cold, cold, clarity.

She often tried to remember, but all she came up with was a pawful of slippery shades. Every day, she strained her mind to the limit, but she always felt a barrier of darkness stop her. No. Not a barrier of darkness. A barrier of unknowing.

Unknowing.

She had even forgot her name, until she had seen it roaring across the skies in a fiery sunset. _Fire._ Her name was Fire. Her name is Fire. There was another part of it, but she could not remember. Fire would be fine for now.

For now.

Fire had seen it, she had remembered her name. She might be oblivious, but Fire was not stupid. _A trigger,_ she thought. _A trigger for my memory. _There had to be clues, remnants of Fire, marks she had left before all went dark. There had to be.

And Fire would find them.

Fire would find them, and she would regain her memory. Fire would remember it all. And she knew that there was something to remember, she just knew it. There was something before the shadows, something that was now obscured. And Fire would find it.

A quest it be, then.

But for now, she followed the gut instinct that this was enemy territory, and tried hard to leave.

Br patient, my readers. If Fire is mentioned here, she will appear again. And now back we go to our main characters.


	4. Together We Go part one

**A/N: this chapter has been divided into two parts. It is weird. **

**I repeat my question: what is Shade's flaw?**

Chapter 3: Together We Go (part one)

"But Shade~!" Night whined. "I want to keep the berries! They're so pretty! And besides, they're the first step in the rainbow quest!"

"No." Shade deadpanned.

"But why?"

"You will eat it by accident and die, believe me. So its best to get rid of it." Ever the morbid one, Shade. Ever the morbid one.

"I won't! It's my treasure! Why would I eat my treasure? Kits don't eat their moss balls, Clan cats don't eat their territory, and humans don't eat their money! Heck, the Nyan Cat doesn't even eat its rainbow!"

"…The heck are you talking about?"

Night realized that he didn't know.

"But I'm still going on the rainbow quest."

"NO."

**A few hours later…..**

"I SAID NO." Shade was intent on making Night quit on this absolutely ridiculous "quest for rainbows", even if she didn't know what it was. But she did feel quite stupid for speaking in all caps just like Night did when he was high on catnip.

"You don't even know what the rainbow quest is!"

"Then explain it."

"I will go on a quest to find objects with the color of the rainbow! Something orange, something yellow, something green, something blue, and something purple."

_This could turn out to be easier than I thought, _Shade thought, cheered.

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinel ineline-**

Now, dear readers, you are probably expecting a childish, happy chapter. You are probably expecting a carefree, _la-de-da _tale, based off the chapter title. I mean, it _is_ called "Together We Go", and that does bring into mind images of happy little animals dancing in the meadow singing of sunshine and daisies and somehow having a tea party at the same time. "Together We Go" does suggest kiddy little quests for a "magic lollipop", and happy children dancing off into the nonexistent sunset to go on a quest to save the world but still singing and dancing despite the "stakes". In other words,_ LA-DE-DA._

But although this is a parody, it is not a _LA-DE-DA_ tale. It is not a tale of only happy little animals dancing and having tea parties. It is not a tale where they all dance off into the sunset, singing like some kiddy Disney movie. Instead, you will find that this tale (this part in particular) can be quite the opposite.

So now, on with the tale-that is-not-a-_LA-DE-DA_-tale.

On to Fire.

Fire heard voices.

No, not in her head. From behind her.

Someone was near.

(YOU DON'T SAY?)

But something strange happened. As Fire whirled around, an image appeared in her mind, so spontaneous that it might as well have been planted in her mind by someone else.

_Shadows pooling, darkness spreading._

Fire shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the image. But instead she felt an ominous feeling plant itself in her stomach, cold as stone. It was a stone, and its coldness seemed to spread into her mind.

_ Twin orbs of dim light, slanted in a narrow gaze, cunning, plotting. Eyes. Eyes, watching her. _

Again, images, strange images that were not her own. They could be fragments of Fire's memory, but Fire was sure they were not. Her previous life was not that dark, she knew.

_A flash of white, sharp enough to cut her soul in two, cutting as the malice glowing in the watching eyes. And then—_

_A drip, soft at first, but then growing more frequent, drip, drip, drip. Drips, drips of some warm, sticky liquid pooling by her. Pooling from her. Drip, drip, drip. Drip, drip, drip. Drip. Tick-tock. Time running out until she was completely drained, cold , cold eyes watching her, waiting for her to drain away and fade…_

_And she was fading, fading, fading away, draining. All caused by those cold, cold eyes, cold, cold waiting person in the shadows, wanting her to fade—_

Enemy!

The word burst into her mind.

_Enemy, _a voice in her head whispered, and it filled her head, pushing all other thoughts into the corners of her mind, where they weakly struggled. _Enemy. _Her other thoughts found themselves fading away, their rationality erased by the presence of the voice. _Enemy._ The ominous feeling she had in her stomach, the one that weighed her thoughts down like a stone, it doubled. No, tripled. The shadows around her suddenly seemed strangely long and dark, so easy for an enemy to hide in. They could be lurking, hiding, waiting, watching her every move. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike…

Strike, attack, _kill._

Before, there had been wariness in her stomach, weighing her down but still allowing free thought. Before, the foreboeing in her heart had been just a stone, there but not quite feel-able. But now it grew, hardening into something much worse. Panic.

The stone in her stomach, it was now a ball of ice.

It spread icy cold fingers of horror from her heart and into her body, freezing her body until she couldn't move at all, instead locked in the cold grip of paranoia. All sounds faded into silence, except the terrified beating of her heart, each thump seeming louder, more like thunder falling. Numbness enclosed her mind, and she found all her thoughts melting away like light melted into darkness when cold night approached. A dull ringing filled her ears, and it leaked into her mind, filling her thoughts, filling her body, filling her very being, until she was vibrating madly, wobbly and fragile yet locked in place by the cold grip of fear. Distantly, she saw the trees' outlines start to wobble, and darkness start to grow…..

But then the cold panic in her heart retracted, calling back the icy tendrils freezing her body, her mind. The ringing vanished, and the outline of the trees grew clear again. Warmth spread back into her body. But her calm thinking did not return, for instead the ice in her stomach slithered and writhed like a serpent, eyes cold and calculating. It twisted its way into her mind, where it transformed into a thought.

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline-**

"Okay then. I'll show you." Shade smiled, but it did not reach her eyes.

Night did not like the calculating gleam in Shade's eyes as she spoke. The words themselves were pieces of her calculation, of her power game, and she already was using them as a weapon against Night's claim, hoping to fell it. Night's eyes narrowed in suspicion, his mind wary of the smile on Shade's face.

_Hmmmmmmmm…_

Just kidding!

Night is way to stupid to be so suspicious.

Rewind-

"Okay then. I'll show you." Shade smiled.

She pointed to a cluster of orange flowers that was _so conveniently _there. "There's your orange thing."

Then she pointed at the sun. "Your yellow thing."

Then at the leaves that surrounded them. "Green thing."

The blue sky above. "Blue."

A cluster of strange purple berries. "Aaaaaaannnnd…purple."

Shade smiled. Proving Night false could actually be fun, she realized. "There! All done!"

"But-but-"

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinel inelinelineline-**

The thought crept into her mind, but it was not hers.

ORLY?

, _ ,

{ 0 , o }

l )````)

Insanity, then.

But anyway—

It slipped into her mind with the other returning thoughts, but it was much larger, and much stranger. While the other thoughts were wary and timid, it walked with an unnatural confidence, like a king walking through a defeated country he conquered. And it crept, no, _strode_ into her mind, spreading, filling her mind with it presence. The other thought shied away, warded away by some invisible force. Soon, the alien thought had pushed away all others into the corners of her mind, where they weakly struggled.

She felt feeble worry in the back of her mind, but it was quickly erased by the alien thought. Her other thoughts, too, found themselves fading away, their doubts erased by the presence of the new thought. She supposed that she should be worried, but the thought did not leave any room in her mind for that.

It filled her head with not the cold of an enemy, but the warmth of an ally, a friend.

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline-**

"Those aren't the objects!" Night protested.

"How do you know?" Shade was winning, she could feel it. She wasn't going to forfeit victory no matter what.

"I-I can just feel it! Like, know that it's the right one! And I'm really positive, because I just know it! I can feel it somewhere in my mind and I just know it and I'm sure those aren't the right ones and that you were just making it up! And-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Shade interrupted, not wanting Night to go on and babble for another hour. But then she added: "And I suppose that you'll know it even more when you're poisoned by those berries."

Sarcasm. That was it.

While somewhere else, a she-cat is losing her mind, Shade is using sarcasm. (Just sayin'.)

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline- **

It filled her head with a strange welcoming, like a meeting with a friend that one had been separated from for too long. And finally meeting again by a sweet twist of fate, two friends embracing each other like they had so many times before the separation, as said by the faded golden memories.

The new thought was warm, like the sun, like a light beam in a dark corner. No, not a thought, a presence. A presence of someone warm, loving, caring, someone there for her. It was not new, she realized, not new, not alien. It had always been there for her. And now it filled her, it was her.

The presence murmured gentle greetings, and her mind was filled with the softness of newborn birds singing and the strength of a fiery sunrise at the same time. It filled her soul, and she felt brimmingly full, a leaf filled with clean, pure rainwater, filled with new strength. Distantly, she could see trees and a forest, but it was all irrelevant, for all that mattered was the presence.

But suddenly, she remembered the enemy, the cold, lurking shadows hiding who-knows-what, and fear jolted through her, sapping the warmth filling her soul and bringing freezing ice once more. The dull ringing started again, and she felt the ice spreading through her body once more, cold, hard claws of ice wanting to drag her into the darkness of blinding panic. But the presence expanded suddenly, a burst of light blazing, blazing, and the fear melted into relief, for the presence was here.

Here.

_But then, wasn't the enemy here, too? _Distantly, she could still hear them.

The presence suddenly flared, flashing lights that were too bright, blazing warmth that was too warm, burning, burning. A blinding flash of light and heat filled her mind, her vision, her very being, and for a moment it was all she saw, all she knew. Nothing, there was nothing but this brilliant flash of light, this searing heat, this burning, nothing, nothing! And it burned, it slashed at her mind, and its white-hot light expanded into her mind, her being, and it was all she knew, this burning of light and searing of heat, eating away her self, her sanity. Expanding, growing, rippling fingers of impossible light into the corners of her mind, tearing it apart. Her mind cried out, although her mouth remained silent.

The presence instantly faded its glaring lights and heat. Soft apologies rippled across her injured mind, and she felt the scars smooth and disappear, healed with the smoothness of the ripples, washed away by cool water. She felt the burning fade away into nothing, the pain vanish, now just a rapidly disappearing memory. Soon, it had slipped from her mind, like sand falling through her paws, and all she knew was the presence. All there was was the presence.

But again, she found herself poking the idea of the enemy. After all, she could hear them talking, distantly. But she was sure that they were plotting her demise, plotting to strike, attack, kill. Once again, the presence flared, but this time it flared of strength, and she felt that strength seep into her body, her mind, her soul, chasing away the last of the fear.

And then she heard it.

The presence's voice.

_Why let the enemy come to you? Why let _it _attack first and win? Why should you wait to be killed?_

Sweet, honeyed, poisoned words, but all she saw knew was the command. _Attack first. Attack them._

_Kill them._

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinel ineline-**

Sarcasm. Indeed.

Night was losing, he knew it. Shade refused to believe him, despite him telling her that he _actually could tell_ if it was the right object or not.

That's not a good reason, Night.

But the main point is that Night wanted to go on the rainbow quest, and Shade wasn't letting him. No, Night did not want to go, he _needed_ to go. Or at least, according to him.

He absolutely positively one-hundred-percent _needed_ to go on that rainbow quest.

So Night decided to try to convince Shade one last time.

"But Shade—"

However, Shade's mind was on a more urgent matter. More accurately, _an immediate threat. _

Shade suddenly yelled: "Night! Duck!"

Night didn't get it (of course). "Duck? Where? I don't see a duck. If there is a duck, can you catch it for me? I think a duck will make a great pet. Yeah, can you catch the duck for me and let me keep it-"

"No, not that duck, the other duck, genius!"

"Yay, I'm a genius!" It seems Night still does not understand sarcasm.

But that is a tale for another time. Now, we focus on Shade and Night and the _immediate threat_. Or more specifically, the bundle of bloodred fur and whirling claws that barreled into Night.

No. This is not a cliffhanger. Really.

**A/N: Potato!**

**This chapter is a clue.**


	5. Together We Go part two

**Together We Go Part 2**

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait…..writer's block. (Ah! It strikes! RUUUNNNNNN!) My brain feels like it just got fried by a bunch of laser-wielding potatoes rebelling against french fries. **

**Review replies:**

**OokamiNeko123: Yesh, potatoes. Keep searching for Shade's flaw! And thank you! J Have a laser-wielding potato rebelling against French fries! (See above)**

**Honeycloud of RiverClan: You shall see (A pretty long time later).**

**I repeat my question, what is Shade's flaw?**

She barreled into the strange black cat, knocking it over and pinning it down.

_Good._

The presence swelled in her mind now, growing larger and larger. It filled her mind, no, it was her mind. All her old thoughts were gone now, replaced by this looming, omniscient presence. But she didn't need them. All she needed was the presence.

It filled her now, it was her. She felt all of her old, unsure self vaporizing, all of her old doubts, paranoia, and worry vanishing. And the old infatuation with regaining her memories, it was gone now. She didn't need her memories. She didn't need anything, for she had the presence.

She felt a strange sensation sweeping through her body. It filled what was once empty, replaced what was once scared. She realized what it was. Power. She had power. The presence gave her power, making her paws tingle with the urge to use it. After all, wasn't she in control now? She could kill the black cat now. She could rip out its entrails, and it wouldn't be able to stop her.

After all, the presence gave her power. She would use it.

_Good._

The presence had a voice. It was thick and sweet, like honey, but it dripped something she didn't recognize. Its voice was everything, she realized, everything in this world packed into one sound. She needed to follow it, she had to.

_Good, _it repeated._ Use the power. _

_Use it._

_Kill him._

That's not very nice.

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline-**

Night was screaming.

The strange orange cat didn't seem to realize, though. Its mind was clearly on other things, such as murder and/or some strange, pervy thoughts. Its eyes were glazed over as if it was dreaming of some desire that would best remain unknown. But Night, when seeing these glazed eyes, only distantly thought of a "glazed donut" (that had appeared to him in a dream once) before terror seized his mind. And then he was screaming, as said earlier.

Of course he was. Wouldn't you be screaming, too, if some random person pushes you over and sits (CLOSE ENOUGH) on you in a very threatening manner?

Don't think pervy thoughts, don't think pervy thought…

Anyway, Night was screaming. Mostly because the strange orange cat looked as if it was about to kill him, and because Night was not obeying the order stated above.

But pervy thoughts will become the least of his worries. Especially when he looks into the orange cat's eyes.

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelineinelinelineline-**

Fog was seeping into her mind.

Figuratively.

Fog was seeping into her mind.

Slowly, she found everything around her fading, as if swallowed by a fog. She fell deeper into her mind, into corners she didn't know existed. The world was vanishing from her mind, and she became just a soul sinking into the darkness, disconnected from the world above.

Ahead, she felt the presence. It was warm and inviting, and its warmth beckoned to her through the darkness. She would much rather embrace the welcome of the presence than the cold, cold darkness. So she found herself drifting towards it effortlessly, as if pulled by an invisible string.

And then she saw it.

It glowed, a ball of light in a dark world. It shone like the sun and sang like the wind, whispering secrets to tantalizing to ignore. She felt its heat on her face, felt it washing away all else…. Its energy cracked like lightning.

Wait-crackled?

It crackled like lightning, edges suddenly not so smooth, instead sharp and jagged like predator's teeth. Her mind only had time to blankly register the change before said predator teeth opened wide and swallowed her.

And then she was no more.

(For now, that is.)

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinel ineline-**

Suddenly, pervy thoughts were the last of Night's worries.

There was something else.

YOU DON'T SAY?

Anyway.

Before, the orange cat actually looked like a cat. Before, it did not look like a wolf that had gotten run over by a twoleg monster a couple of times, then repeatedly struck by lightning. Before, the orange cat's eyes were just glazed (like a donut), not like this.

Night screamed louder than ever, for the cat's eyes were no longer colored. Instead, they were completely white, white as a dead fish belly. And the pupils had completely faded away, leaving a blank eye the color of death.

(Oh yeah, and the fact that the cat was suddenly warping out of shape, and bristling like it had just been rubbed against a twoleg rug.)

And now, Shade comes!

Where was Shade before this? You ask. A perfectly legitimate question, I say. After all, Shade is the mother of Night. She should care enough to at least try to calm Night down (and, you know, _like_, SAVE him from the creepy orange cat?). But instead, Shade found herself rooted to the ground by something she couldn't quite place… No, it was not fear, as she could not see the orange cat's eyes. Probably more of a shock, shock that Night actually mistook the order "DUCK!" as a type of flying waterfowl (from the duck family _Anatidae_, which also includes the swan and goose, which ducks are distinguished from by their smaller size and shorter necks, which no one really cares about right now). And something else, because, like everyone else on this planet, Shade has secrets to hide.

More on that later.

Now I digress.

Shade finally managed to unroot herself from the ground. She leapt at the orange cat and knocked it off of Night. Night got up and ran away screaming.

For perfectly legitimate reasons.

Then Night crashed into a tree.

Not so legitimate anymore…. (but only if one _does not_ count stupidity as a reason).

The orange cat instantly lunged at Shade, hissing and spitting and basically trying to look scary. But Shade's only impression was that of a giant, orange, thrashing hairball. So instead of losing her head like dear little Night, Shade dodged the orange hairball and pushed it away as hard as she could. The orange hairball obviously wasn't very coordinated, so it spun off balance and tumbled into a bush.

Fail.

Unfortunately for the hairball, it was a bramble bush. Ouch.

Night peered out from behind the tree mentioned earlier. "Is it gone?"

For some reason (probably because while she was "fighting" the hairball, Night was hiding), Shade decided to, as us humans put it, troll. "NOPE."

Night squeaked (yes, SQUEAKED) and ducked behind the tree again.

Shade couldn't help it—she started laughing.

"Night, I was joking! Joking! But do you seriously fear that pathetic orange hairball?"

No response.

"Night? Night! The hairball's gone! NIGHT!"

Again, no response.

"Night!" Shade looked behind the tree, but Night was gone.

"Oh for God's sake…."

**-Scene cuts to Night-**

Insert Night running away, repeatedly squeaking like a mouse.

**-Scene cuts back to Shade-**

Insert sweatdrop.

"Ah, Night….."

For the bazillionth time, Shade felt annoyance tug at her. (Actually, it was all she could do not to smash something apart and scream stuff-that-shall-remain-censored.)

I mean, she had told Night not to wander off (or in this case, run away squeaking like a mouse). Because, first of all, if one defenseless, LA-DE-DA, and overall too trusting kitty decides to wander off (or in this case, run away squeaking like a mouse), there will definitely be cats and other animals out there who will see said defenseless, LA-DE-DA, and overall too trusting kitty as prey. Or victim. Or subject of bloodshed and torture, jut for one messed-up group's entertainment. Or whatever else could go wrong in this wide, wide world. (In other words, everything).

Plus, if Shade wasn't there to stop Night from acting extremely stupid, it would make Shade look bad. Really bad. After all, Shade did gain an impressive reputation in Twolegplace, and she wasn't going to lose it just because her son was an idiot. No, she could hide that.

Just don't tell Night.

So Shade decides to go off to find Night, DUH. But then she had a better idea.

_I just hope that Night is still in hearing range. After all, he is a really slow runner. _And besides, this is fiction, so I guess it is perfectly logical that one's voice in this story can be several times louder than it is in real life. Ah, screw logic. This is fiction.

Now I digress.

Shade took a deep breath, then yelled: "NIGHT, IF YOU COME BACK, YOU CAN GO ON THAT RAINBOW QUEST!"

**-Scene cut to Night-**

Night _was_ running (if you could call it that) and squeaking like a mouse, but then he stopped.

(Well, he was still squeaking).

Slowly, Night's somewhat-behind brain processed what he just heard.

Slowly…..

Wait for it…

"YAY! So I can go on the rainbow quest! WHEE!"

Night whirled around and began running back towards Shade, at a pace much faster than the one he had while running away. Talk about motivation.

**Later… (Because although he is motivated, Night is still Night, and Night is still a REALLY BAD RUNNER)**

"About time." Shade grunted as Night finally crossed the nonexistent finish line.

"About time" pretty much sums it up. It was, after all, half an hour later.

What Shade didn't know was that Night had only been thirty feet away. Actually, it was pretty good she didn't know, because if she did, she'd probably die of shame.

Night, however, did know, but he didn't let this particular piece of trivia bother him. He did have more important events he had to do.

Night's to-do list, item one: celebrate permission to go on rainbow quest.

"YAY! RAINBOW QUEST! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!"

"Oh for God's sake….."

"YAY! FINALLY I CAN GO ON RAINBOW QUEST! WHEE!"

"Night, please…."

"YAY! FINALLY! WHEE! WHEE! WHEE! LA DE DA, YAY! I'LL BRING HOME A RAINBOW!"

"Can't we just get over with it?!"

"YAY! IN FACT, I'VE ALREADY FOUND THE ORANGE OBJECT!"

"Geez….wait, what?"

Night finally decided to stop speaking in Caps Lock. "See? It's the orange cat in the spikey bush. Its orange like fire…"

"You don't mean that pathetic hairball that just got its hairy butt kicked by me?" Shade stared. "I wasn't even trying….."

Night wasn't listening.

"Ooh, I said a simile…cool….."

"Night? Night?"

"Ooh, like fire, like fire, like fire, like fire, like fire…"

_Fire…._

Without even realizing it, Night had said the magic word.

And its NOT "please".

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline-**

She was floating. Somewhere.

All around her, there was nothing. Just nothing. An empty void, like the world before there _was_ any world. Nothing…..

The nothing seemed to stretch on forevermore, but her presence filled it. She filled the emptiness, the space, she was the space. Worlds could have fitted in here, yet instead it was filled with just her.

But she didn't really have a form anymore.

Now she was just a presence, like the presence that had hijacked her mind. There, yet not there. Floating, like a distant thought hiding in the dark corners of a mind. Around her, the silence rang with unspoken things, things she could not say anymore, for she had no voice. Everything faded in and out, in and out.

Fading, fading, then growing again, just to fade once more.

In the end, just a world shrouded with mist of nothingness.

She could not remember a time when she had not been the emptiness. Memories of an alien world, where all was put into razor-sharp detail and things were either there or not there. Memories of a world where there was always sound, sound that anchored one to reality, sound that stopped one from drifting into the darkness of their mind. Memories of having a definite form, of being 100% _there_, 100% real. Not fluttery like a ghost of a whisper dancing in the wind, long forgotten, but solidly there.

But those memories were already fading, flaking away like a distant, blurry dream trickling from a mind, into the recesses of forgotten.

Forgotten.

Already, that world seemed unreal, unreachable. She could not remember a time when she had been there, for all she knew was the nothing that stretched on forevermore. All she had remaining from that world was a pawful of half-real thoughts and scattered memories from when she had been there.

_Strange, technicolor eyes, and then all fading into darkness…._

_Darkness….._

_Blissful darkness, wiping away all thoughts like water wiped away from a leaf._

_Awake._

_Who am I?_

_Why don't I remember anything?_

_Why don't I remember?_

_I will remember._

But all fades now…. For now she is trapped in the nothing, trapped by its sheer immenseness, its endlessness. The nothing itself is an obstacle, and she lay defeated behind it.

But why was she here?

She remembered the other world. It hovered in the thoughts that spun around her presence, unreachable yet still there, never fading like the rest of her thoughts. That other world must have been real, for real things never fade away. She supposed she must've been there some time before. So why was she here…..

And then she remembered.

Sudden, hot rage pooled around her, red as blood and hot as flames. She remembered now, she remembered how she had welcomed the presence into her mind, only to have it swallow her and dump her into this nothing. Once she had been somebody, a unwavering somebody in the other world, but then the presence dragged her here, reducing her to no more than a ghost of a memory, floating among the nothing, being nothing.

But before, she had forgotten everything, too. Before, she had nothing, too. Nothing except her name….

Her name…..

The rage that spun around her in glowing-hot circles faded a little, replaced by desperation, lightninglike desperation that wavered around her and struck at her. _My name! My name! _She had known before the presence came, and it had been the only thing that tied her to the real world. She knew now that if she said it, even if it was just a whispering thought, she would return. _My name! My name!_

She had once known, but now, all she remembered was blankness.

_My name! What is my name?_

The desperation struck her again, and she pushed her memory to the limit, searching crazily for her name, ties to her name, anything. Her presence rippled and waved like an ocean in turmoil, but no matter how hard she searched, there was nothing. The presence had dumped her here, and taken all memories of her name with it before it left.

Her name, gone.

Her only tie to the other world, severed. She was now stuck here, condemned to stay in the nothing forever.

Forever….

But then, through the stifling silence of the nothing, a sound pierced through. The silence shattered, and the nothing wavered a bit, allowing the rest of the sound to come through.

_"Like fire, like fire, like fire, like fire, like fire….."_

She felt as if she had frozen over.

_"Like fire, like fire, like fire, like fire, like fire…."_

The sound echoed through the nothing, through the darkness, through her.

_Fire….._

_My name is Fire!_

Suddenly, the nothing was filling with whispers, echoes, images. The nothing had leaked away, and replacing it was fragments, fragments from the real world. Soon, all the nothing had leaked away, and once again Fire was in the real world.

Just one thing…

Fire didn't realize the real world had been so…._pokey_.

Ah, well.

She looked around, taking in all the colors, all the sounds, all the solid _theres _that she had nearly lost. Everything wad refreshingly _there, _refreshingly real, and Fire felt happiness brim in her soul.

"My name is Fire!"

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline-**

"My name is Fire!" The orange cat stick in the bramble bush suddenly declared.

Shade whirled around, surprised. _That orange hairball can actually talk?!_

Shocking.

Night bounced (yes, BOUNCED) up to the orange cat.

"Your name is Fire? I'm Night! Let's be friends!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a moment here." Shade interjected. "That orange hairball just tried to kill you. And now you want to be friends with it?"

The orange cat spoke up again. "Nya! I'm not a hairball! And I'm not an _it_! I'm a _she_!" The orange cat gave Shade quite an impressive glare.

_At least it- no, she isn't trying to kill us anymore….hmm. _Shade thought.

"Let's be friends!" Night said again.

"…..Who are you?"

_But…. _"That's my line!" Shade snapped angrily. "We're just minding our own business, and suddenly you come and attack us for no reason at all! Who the heck are you and why did you attack us?!"

"Well….I…..I don't remember anything about myself. All I remember is that my name is Fire. Nya…" Fire started. _As if they'll believe me. Even if they do believe this, there's no way they'll believe the presence and its mind control._

But perhaps Fire had overestimated Night…..

"I didn't know that you could forget that much! How did you forget?"

"Well, if I forgot everything, what makes you think that I will remember how? And now that I've introduced myself, why don't you do the same?"

"I'm Night and I'm going on a rainbow quest! Whee!"

"I'm Shade and I'm Night's mother. And you still haven't explained why you attacked us."

_Well, here goes. _"Umm…well….there was this….uh….presence that just appeared in my mind…..nya…and it told me to attack you…so I did…and then the presence swallowed me and dumped me into a…..nya…..nothing-space, it seems, and I was…well…stuck there until I heard my name….and now here I am." Fire said lamely.

"Wow, that's so weird! That presence sure sounds scary! I hope it doesn't come back!" Well, at least Night believed it.

Shade didn't. "You expect me to believe that? Seriously?"

Fire sniffed haughtily. "Believe what you want, but it won't change the truth."

_Okay, okay…_

"So how did this presence get into your mind? And how _did_ you lose your memories?"

"If I forgot everything, what makes you think that I will remember how—no, wait….." Fire began, but suddenly she felt a distant memory surface. "Nya…."

"All I remember are strange technicolor eyes….and then blooming darkness…..and when I came to again, I didn't remember anything."

Shade froze. _Technicolor eyes….._

"Oh no! That's terrible!" Night gasped. "Those eyes must be evil!"

"Yeah, I figured that much. Wait, did you say that you were gong on a quest?"

"Yup! I'm searching for different objects, each with a different color of the rainbow! It's a rainbow quest!" Night grinned.

_What a coincidence. _"Nya! I'm going on a quest, too! I'm going on a quest for my memories! I'm searching for things from my past, for once I find them, I'll remember stuff tied to that thing!" Fire's eyes gleamed.

"Then let's go a-questing together! And you're coming whether you like it or not, because you're the orange object."

"Nya?!"

"Let's go a-questing together!" Night repeated, this time removing the offens=ding part.

"…..Fine. But only if we search for my memories as well."

"It's decided then!"

Shade finally unfroze (see above). "Wait, wait. Night, you're inviting a total stranger who just tried to kill us on a quest? What if-"

"Well, this is fiction, where logic is unneeded. So there!"

"Night, please don't break the fourth wall, the author will get mad…" said Fire.

"Well, you are, too!"

"Nya! But we should try to stick to the plot and please the author, because if we don't, the author could get angry and kill us off."

"True…"

Shade had a giant question mark (cats don't know what that is, but who cares) right over her head. "Fourth wall? Author? Plot? What are you guys talking about?"

"Let's just move on and start our quest, shall we?"

And so they all join hands and dance off into the sunset and their hearts are emboldened by their determination to complete their quest and the epic music plays and the story officially begins. As Night says, LA-DE-DA…..

Just kidding.

Actually…..

Shade looked up at the setting sun and yawned. "Well, since we already found the orange object, let's just rest here for the night, shall we?"

Night was already asleep.

"Sure, why not." Fire agreed. "And tomorrow the quest begins! Nya!"

**A/N: This chapter was long, in my standards. **

**Fire says "Nya" just to annoy you. :) And her personality will be revealed later.**

**I should've said this in Part 1, but there is a Pandora Hearts reference here. Anyone who spots it gets a cookie!**


	6. Yellow

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Me is lazy. **

**I repeat, what is Shade's flaw?**

**Review replies:**

**Honeycloud of RiverClan: Not telling. **

**The story shall first go through a short detour….**

The mouse was furious.

Absolutely furious.

Those darn squirrels.

Once again, they had taken all the food.

Now, let's go back for a bit…..

The mouse had been searching for nuts under a tree. It had gone three days without food, and it was absolutely _starving. _But why had it not eaten? It was those darn squirrels, taking all the food. Everywhere the mouse went, the squirrels had reached before. Everywhere. Everywhere. EVERY. FREAKING. WHERE. And those dang arrogant squirrels just had to leave a bit of their hair behind, as if saying: "I win you lose nah nah nah nah naaahhhh naaahhhhh!"

Oh, poor, wretched mouse!

The mouse had almost given up on finding food, except at that particular moment, it had seen the oak tree. The tall, tall oak tree that seemed to hold up the sky with its sheer enormousness. The tall, tall oak tree with thick green leaves, thick green leaves that caught the golden sunlight and blended it with a tranquil, viridescent light of its own. The tall, tall oak tree that loomed over the rest of the forest, like a guardian of the woods, protecting all of the wildlife.

But the mouse saw none of that.

All the mouse saw were the acorns- oh, wonderful acorns- that littered the ground under the tree.

Food.

Food, glorious food!

The mouse practically tripped over itself in its haste to get to the oak. Scrambling towards it as fast as possible, the mouse did not dare look away from it's precious (read: acorns) in fear that the moment it looked away, a squirrel would snatch them away from the mouse, leaving it in desperate hunger once more. But no squirrel came, and the primal happiness that swelled in the mouse grew so big that any onlooker would say that the mouse looked as if it was about to explode.

Finally, the mouse reached the oak. Instantly, it lunged at the nearest acorn and yanked it out of the fallen leaves, then ate it. The mouse felt strength return to its limbs, and used this strength to reach for another. Soon, it was eating acorn after acorn, stuffing its face in a manner rather like what we humans call "contestant at speed-eating contest". And then the mouse was full (actually, shocking that it did not explode) and it would survive and it never had a problem with squirrels again.

Happy ending?

NAHHHHHH.

Actually….

Finally, the mouse reached the oak. Instantly, it lunged at the nearest acorn and pulled it out of the fallen leaves. However, it quickly discovered that the "acorn" was actually just an acorn _shell, _the inside completely gone.

Dun dun duuuuuunnnnn!

The mouse currently did not know the emotions of horror and despair, but it did know panic. The mouse's previous elation turned into icy cold panic faster than a set of traffic lights (or as the wildlife of this story would call it; flashy, colorful light-thingies. Or just "dafuq?"). Desperately, it pulled out another acorn, only to find that it was empty, too. It pulled out another one. And another one. And another one.

Much later…..

Soon, all the acorn remnants were dug up. The mouse sat nearby, panting.

And then it saw it.

Squirrel hairs.

Now, any onlooker would say that the mouse's face eerily resembled what us humans, or more accurately, us rage comic makers call the "RAGE FACE".

_"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" _

Aaaannnnddd now we go back to the present.

Now, the mouse stalked the grounds of its defeat (translation: under the oak tree) angrily, silently cursing the squirrels. Those darn squirrels! They just had to take all the food! ALL the food! ALL of it! The mouse seriously doubted that the squirrels actually needed that much food. They just took it because they felt like it! Those evil bastards! And how did the mouse know that they were taking too much? Well, it just did! If those evil squirrels had actually eaten all the acorns, they would be more wide than tall.

Teehee…..

The mouse suddenly felt something akin to primitive amusement bubble up inside it at the mental image of a super-fat squirrel. Imagine…..the squirrel would be so fat that it wouldn't even be able to walk, much less climb trees….it would have to roll. Roll. Fat squirrels, rolling down a hill, shrieking in terror because they couldn't stop…..all while the mouse watched, shaking with laughter, for it had been the one to push them down the hill in the first place…..

But the mouse's amusing mental image vanished almost right after it appeared. It would not fall for the squirrels' evil plans!

…..Evil…..plans….?

The mouse knew it! The squirrels had taken all the food just so then the mouse would imagine these funny scenes! The mouse would be so amused by these scenes that it would laugh for days, weeks even…..laugh so hard that it would forget to search for food and avoid predators! And then the mouse would eventually die off, just because it was laughing too hard! Oh, the horror! The mouse felt self-justified rage boil in its _honorable_ heart at the very thought of such a _notorious_ plan.

How dare they!

No, the mouse would not fall for the squirrels' evil plans, even if the squirrels' so-called "evil plans" actually didn't exist.

But no, the mouse pondered. (Well, actually, mice cannot ponder. Just so you know.) The squirrels definitely would not come up with a plan as _absurd _as that. No, no, no indeed.

_The plan was simply too risky….too many things could go wrong….and the squirrels were seriously underestimating the mouse…..no, indeed….._

But the mouse thought of none of the above proof. The mouse's sole reason was that SQUIRRELS. ARE. STUPID. (And evil, and annoying, and every other insult there is under the sun, because _of course_ one will insult their enemy in every single way they can think of.)

Instead…

Perhaps they were just taunting the mouse! Perhaps they just wanted to see the mouse starve! Perhaps-

(Actually, the mouse was probably just too stupid to find food, and it was just pegging all the blame on the squirrels. Talk about prejudice.)

The mouse glared at the happily rustling leaves above its head, as if they were the root of all the mouse's problems. Angrier and angrier it grew, for it just knew that the squirrels were, as us Internet-using humans call it, trolling. First of all, there was no way that the squirrels needed that much food! Second, even if they did need that much, why replace all the empty shells? Was it just to taunt the mouse? Make it look stupid?

NO! The mouse would have none of that!

The squirrels took all the food and replaced the shells, did they? (Somewhere else- Squirrel: "TROLOLOLOLOLOLOL") Thought they were so clever, did they? Well, they are not! Their petty tricks will not affect the _great_ mouse in any way! (Actually….)

The mouse would get them back. Oh, just you watch! The mouse would trick them in such a cunning and wily way that all of the forest would gasp in horror! The mice would speak of their savior with wonder in their squeaky voices for decades to come! The other animals would be stunned by the sheer brilliance of the trick, and jealous that no member of their own was anywhere near being as remarkable as the mouse! And the squirrels would hide their faces in shame, shame at being totally PWNED, shame at being so greedy and foolish, shame!

Oh, just you watch, world! The mouse would get those darn squirrels back for what they had done! Just you watch!

Now…

Now, all the mouse had to do to set its awesome plan in motion was…was…was…think of a plan.

Facepalm in three, two, one.

But never fear! The mouse would think of a plan!

Even though its brain is so tiny that one might actually need a microscope to see it.

**A few hours later…..**

Now, any onlooker would say that the look on the mouse's face resembled what us humans called "extremely constipated".

Because the mouse simply…...couldn't…..think…..of…..anything!

Ah, where are those brainwaves when you need them?

The mouse had been aimlessly drifting about while trying to think of a plan. Quite dangerous, but the mouse didn't really realize that. It soon found itself under a beech tree, next to a bramble bush, which, judging by the tufts of ginger fur in it, some unlucky beastie had already been caught in. Best avoid that.

However, soon, vindictive plottings would vanish from the mouse's mind.

Because, nearby, it could see food!

Food!

Food, glorious food!

(Actually, it was just a beechnut.)

The mouse rushed towards it, previous plottings and anger forgotten. Here it was, finally! Food! Oh glorious food! Food, which would save the mouse's belly from the hunger in which it suffered from! Food! Glorious food! The mouse was saved.

But wait! Of course there must be a catch….

Just when the mouse was a hair's breadth away from the precious (read: beechnut), a gray streak darted forth and stole it!

It stole the precious!

Gasp!

Aaaannnnd it _just happens_ that said gray streak is a squirrel.

Dun dun duuuuuunnnnnn!

The mouse felt rage as never before. Before, the rage was just a tiny tongue of flame. But now, it was a wildfire. The rage filled the mouse from head to tail, and the mouse felt as if it was filled with boiling lava. Flames of fury licked at the mouse's heart, scorching it a dark, unforgiving black. The lava of rage grew hotter and hotter, burning and scorching with the flames. The rage at the squirrels, the rage at the lack of food, the rage at all those taunting _food-thieves_, all built up steadily day after day, it overflowed now, a dam bursting forth, and the mouse felt heat sear through it's body, sheer heat of the flames, building up faster and faster until it overflowed, bursting out of the mouse's jaws as a…a…tiny squeak.

Fail.

The squirrel doubled over in what could only be laughter.

The mouse snapped. It lunged at the squirrel, every fiber of its being longing to rip, to tear, to shred that arrogant bastard. Its tiny claws itched to latch onto the evil squirrel, feel it squirm and writhe in a futile attempt to escape. Its teeth longed to sink into tender flesh, rip it apart, tear it apart, make the squirrel feel pain, make blood flow. Make it pay. Make that damn squirrel pay for its cruel actions…

But the squirrel only jumped out of the mouse's reach and shot up a tree, taking the beechnut with it. Snarling, the mouse glared at the squirrel, its furious eyes seeming to emit waves of hatred, burning, burning.

But suddenly, the mouse's rage was instantly forgotten, for it saw the beechnut dangling in front of it, and the beechnut _wasn't out of reach._

Oh, salvation!

The mouse made a grab towards it, longing to take it and eat it and feel the wonderful strength return to its body, but before the mouse could even touch it, the beechnut was cruelly snatched away. The mouse looked up, shocked, and saw the leering face of the squirrel.

And suddenly, the mouse understood.

The squirrel had been taunting it! It purposely left the beechnut on the ground, and waited nearby to take it away before the mouse could get it. Then, when it had shot up the tree, it had again purposely let the beechnut dangle in front of the mouse's nose, then snatched it away once more. That squirrel just wanted to let the mouse have a taste of sweet, sweet (false) hope, then seize it and leave the mouse in bitter despair. It just wanted to let the mouse feel desperate, so desperate, for the thing it longed for was so close, yet so far…..

That evil squirrel.

Before, the mouse had felt mindless rage, a wildfire burning away the rational mind, sanity. Before, all it had needed was the screamed promise that it would see the squirrel bleed. Before, all was crazy rage, mindless fury, burning on, burning on. But now all the mouse felt was cold, cold hatred, not raging crazily like the fire, but seeping through its veins silently, like a dark poison. The cold, cold hatred spread through its body, freezing and shattering all thoughts of forgiveness, weakness, and snatching away all wisps of warmth until it reached the mouse's heart and froze it into a solid ball of ice.

And its chilled heart felt no more, no more frustration, no more painfully burning fury. No more forgiveness. That squirrel would pay.

That squirrel would pay.

The mouse felt something strangely akin to a smile grow on its face as it began formulating a plan. Then it turned away.

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline- **

To the squirrel's great surprise, the mouse suddenly turned away. It was confused. Surly the mouse still wanted the beechnut? Surly it would not turn away from food? Surly the mouse would not admit defeat to the squirrel? The mouse wanted the beechnut a lot, the squirrel knew, but was too stupid and impulsive to think of a smarter way to get it. The mouse did not have the patience and wit to find food, for it was always too slow. Had it finally realized? The squirrel climbed down the tree to investigate.

No, the squirrel thought. It's trying, but it is too weak. It will succumb to mindless desire again.

And that would ultimately be the mouse's downfall.

With that thought in mind, the squirrel nudged the beechnut closer to the mouse. But once again, the mouse made no movement. The squirrel nudged it closer, completely nonplussed by the mouse's behavior but sure that eventually the mouse would crack. Still, the mouse remained inanimate, almost as if made of stone.

The squirrel had been tensed, ready to snatch the nut away at second's notice, but now it relaxed its guard. The mouse had definitely given up. It had obviously realized that it was to incompetent to compete with a squirrel for food. It had obviously realized that it was just a mediocre mouse, not even worthy of being compared to a squirrel. That mouse had definitely given up. It probably wouldn't even move if the squirrel jabbed it with the beechnut.

So, soley for entertainment purposes, the squirrel did so.

Big mistake.

The mouse had been coiled up, like a great spring, waiting. Waiting. The cool calm in its heart and mind told it to wait. Before, it had always charged in mindlessly, and in result never gotten anything. So now it waited, waited for the right moment, waited for the squirrel to blunder. Oh, it knew that the squirrel would blunder. It knew. For how many times had it made the same mistake? Believing itself to be above common others, underestimating rivals and challengers, wildly _assuming_ what the opposing would do. Biiiiig mistake.

The mouse had been waiting for this. The moment it felt the beechnut jab it, it whirled around and seized the said nut. The squirrel's grip had been loosened, for it had not expected the mouse's sudden attack. The mouse easily jerked the beechnut out of the shocked squirrel's loose grip.

But then, in an act that totally defied the rules of animal instinct, the mouse flung the beechnut away, and instead lunged at the squirrel, clawing every inch of it the mouse could reach.

For the mouse's frozen heart had suddenly erupted with an arctic fire burning so strongly, an intensity completely alien to the mouse's species. Suddenly, the mouse's heart felt as if it would explode; the cold had previously been just a chill, but now it was icy, so glacial that the mouse felt as if his heart was burning with a fire of ice. The chill of hate that frozen its heart now erupted, erupted into the deepest loathing, and the mouse's frozen heart felt as if it would crack and shatter if it did not make the squirrel pay.

Pay.

The mouse would make the squirrel pay.

So the mouse threw away what it had formerly been fighting for and instead turned upon its tormenter, attacking with a viciousness the squirrel did not know the mouse possessed.

The squirrel thrashed under the mouse's furious claws and teeth, but to no avail. The mouse should not, could not, would not let go, would not let go of this one chance to make its long-hated enemies pay. The hatred that scorched its heart with ice would not let it let go, walk away, forgive. So instead of allowing the squirrel to slip from its grasp, the mouse increased its attack, determined to keep clawing, biting, scratching until scarlet blood flowed forth. The mouse's vigorous attack bowled the squirrel over, and the mouse fell on top of it, still clawing madly.

Now, the squirrel was pinned under the mouse. It shrieked and squealed as pain erupted all over its face and body; soon, it knew, its skin would tear, and its blood would be spilled. Desperately, the squirrel fought back, clawing and kicking back at its attacker.

The mouse hissed in rage as the squirrel started to fight back, causing the mouse's face to sting. A wild blow of the squirrel's caught the mouse in the eye, and it drew back just in time to save itself from half-blindness. The squirrel grabbed the chance and surged upwards, trying to dislodge its attacker, but the mouse just leaned down and bit the squirrel's ear. Warm blood filled the mouse's mouth, but it bit harder. The squirrel shrieked in pain, and kicked randomly at the mouse's stomach, again and again until the mouse was rolled sideways with the squirrel, so that the squirrel's torn ear was against the ground.

The mouse lashed out with its nails again, trying to rip apart the fur on the squirrel's shoulder, but it since it refused to let go of the squirrel's ear, its missed and hit empty air. Taking advantage of this mistake, the squirrel realized that the mouse's neck was exposed and lunged forwards to bite. Now the mouse let go of the squirrel's ear. As the squirrel's teeth grazed the mouse's neck painfully, the mouse jerked back, and the squirrel kicked it hard in the abdomen, causing the mouse to be flung from the squirrel. Both lay, panting, glaring at each other with eyes that could kill.

The beechnut lay a in the dust, forgotten.

Then they flung themselves at each other simultaneously, collided with each other and began to roll around in the dirt in a wild scuffle as each tried to rip off as much of the other's fur as possible.

Until, that is, they rolled in the path of a cat.

Both froze, terrified. Then, previous rages and clashings forgotten, they promptly untangled themselves and fled.

Fire blinked, surprised. "What was that?"

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinel inelineline-**

Fire blinked, surprised. "What was that?"

Behind her, Shade snorted with obvious derision. "What?" Fire demanded.

For the past few hours, Shade had been constantly making rather derogatory comments about Fire. Actually, "rather derogatory" might be a bit of an understatement. Perhaps "completely unsubtle insult" would be more fitting.

_"Tripped again? Seriously? No excuse this time, that tree root was practically nonexistent."_

_"And here I was thinking that things couldn't get much worse with an idiot around….*coughNightcough*….but then another one just had to come along and prove me wrong….."_

_"You want me to call you Fire? What for? 'Orange hairball' is a hundred times more accurate, you know."_

_"You know, I met a kittypet once. He (or at least I think it was a he) told me that gingers have no souls. In this case, I suppose he's right, except it's not a soul that's missing, it's a brain."_

_"Why do I insult you and treat you, I quote, 'SOOOOO MEANLY'? Oh, I don't know, it may just have something to do with the fact that you tried to kill us. MAYBE..."_

_"And why do you always say 'Nya' anyway? It's annoying, stupid, and pointless. Oh wait, that's what you already are. Never mind!"_

Yeah. "Unsubtle" alright.

Perhaps that's Shade's purpose, though…because, after all, Fire does have a personality rather like, well, fire. (It can be quite amusing to watch.)

_"Nya! Not again! Stupid tree root, who put it there anyway? Damn them! I hope they trip over something, then see how they like it!"_

_"Not funny, damnit!"_

_"Nya! I said NOT FUNNY! Why are you still laughing! Stop laughing, damnit! Nya!"_

_"NYA?! I am NOT STUPID! NO NO NO! I am NOT annoying, airheaded, hyperactive, high, or WHATEVER! Just get that into your FAT HEADS! AND I DO NOT HAVE A YELLING PROBLEM!"_

_"And I'll say 'Nya' whether you like it or not, because its MY LIFE! MY LIFE, MY DECISIONS! So TOO BAD! DEAL WITH IT! AND, I REPEAT, I DO NOT HAVE A YELLING PROBLEM!"_

_"DON'T. CALL. ME. STUPID! BECAUSE I AM NOT! CAN'T YOU REALIZE?! AND FOR THE LAST TIME, I DO NOT HAVE A YELLING PROBLEM!"_

I beg to differ.

But now I must digress, for there is a storyline waiting for me, in the, you know, PRESENT.

Sooo….

"What?" Fire demanded.

Shade merely snorted again.

Night, who was pretty good at deciphering his mother's actions, spoke.

"Maybe she just likes the sound."

…..Or….not.

"….Maybe she does." Fire agreed thoughtfully.

_Don't know if trolling, or just plain stupid. _Shade thought.

If she had a hand, she would have facepalmed. But since she didn't, she settled for sighing loudly and muttering "idiots" in a voice she knew perfectly well both of them could hear.

"No, I am snorting to show my scorn at the orange hairball's obvious lack of brains."

"Nya?! 'Lack of brains'? HOW?!"

"Well, for starters, you could've caught the mouse and squirrel. Then we'd have food to eat. Also, you could drop that stupid 'nya'. Just a suggestion, you know, in hope that you actually start acting like someone who has half a brain. "

Fire felt that she could explode. But she didn't. By just barely, but still.

Because, she knew, that if she got mad and started yelling (_No_, Fire corrected. _Not yelling. I do not have a yelling problem, so I'm not yelling. I'm _protesting_. Yeah, _protesting_._), Shade would take advantage of it and taunt her further. So this time, she spent up all her self-control to try and curb her rather yell-y anger.

It worked, but just barely.

Fire was still celebrating this particular victory over her temper when Shade spoke again.

"Why the heck are you dancing?"

"Nya?"

"…you didn't even realize you were dancing? Talk about FAIL."

"Nya! Shut up!"

"Why should I?"

Fire glowered at Shade, silently seething. Shade just grinned more broadly. She loved provoking Fire. Fire was weaker than her, so Shade was in no danger at all. But the best part was watching Fire get all flustered and embarrassed as she struggled to defend herself. Then she would get angry, and d something even more stupid. Aaaaaaaand then Shade would taunt her even more. Hilarious, as Fire still had not realized this loop.

"Well, you- well, ah- just shut up! You're stupid!" Fire said lamely.

Shade was smiling so broadly that her face now resembled what we Internet-ing humans call the "trollface".

"Says the cat who couldn't even catch two oblivious pieces of prey."

"How were they oblivious? They fled, didn't they?"

"Of course they fled. Anyone would, after seeing your ugly mug. But the point is that they froze for at least five seconds after you saw them. You could've gotten them, retard."

"Well, I-" Fire spluttered. "Well- I'll show you! I'll go catch them now!" Having said that, she raced off roughly in the direction of where the squirrel had ran.

"Oy, stupid!" Shade yelled after her retreating form, "It's long gone! Give it up!"

Too late….

Shade sighed, then turned to Night to complain about Fire's stupidity.

But her son wasn't there. Shade groaned. _How did I not notice…_

Wow, finally Shade realizes how irresponsible she is. About time.

_….the obvious lack of stupid, irrelevant comments?_

Ah, nevermind.

**-linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinel inelineline-**

Fire raced off after the squirrel. _Where did it go? Damn squirrel._

So she doesn't realize…..

Fire sniffed the forest floor, trying to detect squirrel scent. But all she scented was stale vole.

_No, really. Where the heck did it go?!_

Sigh…

Fire nosed her way along, sniffing furiously. _I must look ridiculous, doing this. _

How right you are.

In fact, Fire was secretly glad that Shade was not here, for if she was, she would probably die laughing. However, Shade was not here. So Fire nosed her way along, for she just had to find that squirrel. Then shove it in Shade's face with a triumphant "ha!"

The alternative was unbearable.

Fire sniffed harder at the image of Shade's signature "I-told-you-it-wouldn't-work-you-brainless-moron" face. No way, no way! There was no way she'd lose to that Shade and not get the squirrel. No, no, no! she would get that squirrel, then shove it in Shade's face. That'd wipe the smirk off Shade's face! And then Fire'd be the one laughing, and Shade wouldn't be able to nitpick at her every move anymore, for this time Fire had actually accomplished something!

Fire was so engrossed in her triumphant dreams that she failed to pay attention to her surroundings. Aaaaaaaand then crashed into a tree.

"Nya!"

Strange. Even though she had just crashed headlong into a very solid tree, she still manages to say that annoying word. Hmm.

Fire stumbled around, little birds and stars flying around her head like they do in cartoons. One star with a particularly pointy end poked Fire hard in the eye as it flew past.

"Nya!"

OH FOR THE LOVE OF-

Angrily, Fire batted away the offending stars and birds that marked her as "dizzy". However, the movement overbalanced her and she tumbled into a bush.

A bramble bush, which is definitely more pointy and prickly than some cartoon, wannabe gold star.

"OW!"

Finally, some language we recognize.

Now, the birds and stars flew away, daunted by the much-more-real spikes of the bramble bush However, the luxury of being able to fly away unscathed was still unknown to Fire. She struggled against the thorns, but they just dug deeper into her fur. _Argh, damnit! _Fire squirmed and thrashed, but only succeeded in further tangling herself. Soon, she was positive that she was stuck.

_…..well, crap._

Just then, the squirrel that she had been chasing (how did it know? It had teeth marks in its ear) stuck its head out of a hole near another bush. Instantly, an image of what Shade's face would look like if she found out about how Fire lost the same piece of prey twice popped into Fire's mind.

_Like hell I'll lose to you!_

Momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be stuck, Fire shot out of the bush, ONLY leaving about half of her pelt snagged in the thorns, and lunged blindly at the squirrel. The squirrel squeaked in panic and brain-farted, resulting in it shooting out and scrambling towards a random tree (that was NOT the nearest) instead of just ducking back into the freaking hole.

The squirrel streaked towards a tree that was rather far away, and Fire shot after it. It darted into a bush, dodging expertly between the twigs and emerging safely on the other side and next to said random tree. There it stopped, panting in shock.

_Ain't got no time for that_, Fire thought, and jumped over the bush and right at the squirrel. It froze against the hard bark of the tree, terrified.

But NOOOOOOOPE.

Right at the last second, the squirrel shot up the tree, leaving just an empty stretch of bark where it used to be. Unable to stop her momentum, Fire crashed headlong into another tree for the second time in less than five minutes.

Scumbag squirrel…..

Once again, Fire found herself stumbling around, little birds and stars flying around her head like they do in cartoons. But this time, she snarled in fuming anger and tore them to shreds. A manga-style "red outline of popping vein of anger" then appeared over her head, but she tore that to shreds, too.

But her anger was instantly forgotten when she saw the amazing scene.

Fire gasped dramatically. "What….is this?" She breathed.

For sitting in the sun-dappled forest floor, framed by slender trees swaying in the soft breeze and cushioned by the sweet spring grass, right in the place of honor among nature's beauty, was…..

…..a big, fat rubber ducky.

Since the story had expressed much interest in cartoon effects and manga iconology, Fire decided to demonstrate the popular FACE FAULT.


End file.
